Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed skepticism Sunday that the Trump administration has a plan in place to end Russia's war in Ukraine, and said he would not accept any such plan if Ukraine is not directly involved in the negotiations.
Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Zelenskyy was thankful toward President Donald Trump and members of his administration for signaling that they want the war to end — even saying he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin is "a little bit scared" of President Trump. But Zelenskyy said the only way to end the war is if Ukraine is at the negotiating table.
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"I will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine," he said. "Never."
"We are thankful for all the support, unity between USA — in USA around Ukraine support," Zelenskyy added. "... But there is no any leader in the world who can really make a deal with Putin without us about us."
Zelenskyy's comments come after President Trump said last week that he spoke with both him and Putin in separate phone calls. Zelenskyy said his call with the president was positive but that the two did not discuss enough to "make a plan" for peace in the region.
Zelenskyy also said he reiterated to President Trump that Ukraine needs "real security guarantees" in order to come to the negotiating table with Putin.
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In a post on his Truth Social platform, President Trump said he and Putin "agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation." President Trump also said that he and Putin have agreed to meet in both Russia and the U.S.
Efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine were in the spotlight this past week with several U.S. leaders — including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — in Europe for the 26th Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Brussels.
Both Vance and Rubio met with Zelenskyy Friday. Following the meeting, Vance said the U.S. wants to "achieve a durable, lasting peace," that would not result in more conflict in the future.
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However, earlier in the week, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Ukraine should prepare to negotiate a settlement with the Kremlin and abandon hopes of taking back land now occupied by Russia — something Zelenskyy balked at.
"It's out of constitution to recognize our occupied territory like territory of Russia," he said Sunday. "We will never do it. It's not about — it's not about any negotiations. We will never speak about it."
